Marlins Beat Cubs 3-2, Delay Chicago Playoff Clinch Again

Kyle Stowers homered and the Miami Marlins stopped the Chicago Cubs from clinching a National League wild-card berth for a second straight night, winning 3-2 on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, NBC Sports and ABC News reported, both carrying Associated Press coverage of the game.

Chicago entered needing a win or an Arizona loss at Colorado to lock an NL wild-card spot. The Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 5-3, so the Cubs own defeat left the clinch unfinished again, NBC Sports reported. After the result, Chicago sat tied with Philadelphia at 87-71 for the second of three NL wild cards, one game behind San Diego with four to play, according to the AP account published by ABC News. None of the three clubs had wrapped up a postseason trip.

Stowers broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with his 21st home run, a two-run shot off Kevin Gausman. The Cubs answered in the bottom of the inning when Dansby Swanson laced a broken-bat single into left field that scored two runs and evened the game at 2-2, NBC Sports reported. Miami then took the lead for good in the seventh when Joe Mack’s groundout brought home Agustn Ramrez. The Marlins retired the next nine Chicago batters to close out the win, their second straight after dropping three in San Diego.

Cade Gibson (6-2), the second of four Miami relievers, struck out two in the seventh, and Sandy Alcantara worked the ninth for his second save, per AP coverage. Reliever Ryan Rolison (9-2) took the loss for Chicago. Gausman struck out seven and allowed two runs on six hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings. Miami starter Ryan Gusto allowed six hits and two walks while striking out five in 5 1/3 innings before the bullpen took over.

The Padres’ 5-1 win at Dodger Stadium earlier Wednesday, hours after the Phillies lost 4-1 at home to Milwaukee, kept the wild-card board crowded, ABC News reported. Chicagos Pete Crow-Armstrong needed a stolen base to become the seventh player to join the 40-40 club but went 0-for-3 with a walk and remained at 45 home runs and 39 steals, NBC Sports noted.

For Miami, the result extended a brief rebound and denied Chicago a celebration that had been within reach on consecutive nights. The Marlins schedule still includes Thursdays afternoon home finale for the Cubs series, with right-hander Tyler Phillips (5-6, 3.45 ERA) lined up for Miami and Chicago still undecided on a starter at press time, according to AP. Scoreboard watching across the National League will continue until the wild-card cutline hardens in the season’s final four days.

Readers following September baseball on Sports will recognize the late-season pattern: clinch chances that look mathematical on paper can vanish when a rival wins and a contender drops a one-run home game. Related desk coverage of the months pennant races has already tracked other clubs landmark nights, while this report stays focused on Miamis 3-2 win and Chicago’s second straight delayed clinch.

Wednesdays sequence also underscored how thin the margin is among San Diego, Chicago and Philadelphia. With Arizona still mathematically alive three games back and every contender holding four games remaining, a single loss at Wrigley does not end Chicagos October hopes, but it does force another night of waiting. Macks seventh-inning RBI groundout and Alcantaras ninth became the nights decisive frames after Stowers and Swanson traded sixth-inning punches, NBC Sports and ABC News reported.

Whether the Cubs punch their ticket Thursday against Phillips or need the weekend will define the final stretch of a wild-card race that still has no locked berth among the middle cluster. For now, the Marlins leave Chicago with a 3-2 trophy and another delayed champagne night for a Cubs club that remains one win—or one Arizona lossfrom October, per the dual AP accounts.